More than one in 10 people travelling through the region are taken, as smugglers boost dwindling returns by preying on people for ransom, survey finds
Der Guardian 09.01.19 zitiert eine Studie des Mixed Migration Center, das in 20 Ländern und auf 7 Migrationsrouten insgesamt 11 150 Interviews durchgeführt hat. Die meisten Entführungen erleiden Migrant*innen aus Äthiopien, wenn sie den Sudan durchqueren.
Die Interviews wurden in den Hubs des MMC zwischen Mai 2017 und September 2018 durchgeführt.
“Usually, families receive a phone call from kidnappers saying they have their family member and demanding a ransom. Sometimes they can hear the voice or even the torture happening on the phone to force them to pay,” said Frouws. Ransoms are often about $2,000 (£1,570).
It is possible that smugglers are increasingly turning to kidnapping as they look for alternative sources of income because of the decreasing number of people travelling through certain routes, he added.
“As numbers are going down – at least the number arriving in Europe is going down – as a result of attempts to stop or control this migration, this means there are fewer clients for smugglers,” Frouws said. “Maybe some of them are earning less or being pushed out of business. This could be a way to make it up.”